Cougars Picked by Media and Coaches as Early MWC Favorite

The BYU Cougars are the consensus favorites to win the inaugural Mountain West Conference football title, according to participants of the new conference's first-ever media day in Colorado Springs Monday. In voting by both the coaches and the media, BYU placed first followed by Air Force and San Diego State. Individual preseason honors were headlined by senior linebacker Rob Morris, who was selected as the MWC preseason Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year and was described by guest speaker and ESPN analyst Lee Corso as the "best linebacker in the country." Five Cougars were voted to the preseason all-conference team, including Morris, quarterback Kevin Feterik, cornerback Brian Gray, defensive lineman Byron Frisch and placekicker Owen Pochman.